The invention relates to carbon-based nanometer scale probes for microscopy.
Scanning probe microscopies, such as atomic force microscopy, are used to image, with high sensitivity and precision, the microscopic topography and surface properties of a sample. Other types of microscopic techniques include optical, transmission electron, scanning electron, interfacial force, colloid probe, optical tweezers, and surface force.
A typical force microscope, such as that employed for atomic force microscopy, includes a cantilever-tip to image a sample, a detector to measure the displacement of the cantilever-tip, and feedback electronics to maintain a constant imaging parameter, such as a tip-sample separation or force. Atomic force microscopy experiments can be conducted in a range of environments, e.g., in air, in vacuum, in liquids, and at different temperatures. Atomic force microscopy can be used to resolve forces, for example, on the order of piconewtons.